The Merrimack Conservation Partnership (MCP) announced the 2022 recipients of its eighth and ninth rounds of Land Conservation Grants, which help underwrite conservation projects that protect the ecologically important Merrimack Valley Watershed region of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In the latest grant rounds, the MCP awarded grants totaling $87,000 to eight projects that will conserve a total of approximately 1,035 acres of land. The total value of the land to be protected in these latest grant rounds is conservatively estimated at $3.85 million.

In 2010, the Merrimack was identified by the US Forest Service as the most threatened watershed in the nation in terms of projected loss of private forestland over the next 20 years. The two-state region of the Merrimack Watershed spans a total of 2.1 million acres and 3,275 square miles of which 54% is in New Hampshire and 46% in Massachusetts. The Merrimack River starts in Franklin, NH and flows through eight of New Hampshire’s largest cities, then continues through Massachusetts to its mouth at Newburyport.

Launched in 2012, the Merrimack Conservation Partnership is a collaborative effort of private organizations and public agencies working on land conservation in the Merrimack Valley Watershed. The partners share a vision of conserving (on a strictly willing-seller/donor basis) the region’s most ecologically significant forests and the key connections between them for wildlife passage and human recreation.

The Merrimack Conservation Partnership Land Conservation Grants program underwrites transaction costs—appraisals, surveys, title research, staff time, etc.—on conservation transactions that protect land identified in the Merrimack Valley Regional Conservation Plan.

Below is a list of the 2022 grant recipients and a brief description of their projects.

Crystal Lake Watershed Conservation Initiative in Haverhill, MA

Applicant: Essex County Greenbelt Association
Acres to be conserved: 86.6
Protection Method: Purchased Conservation Restriction, Land Purchase, & Land Donation
MCP Grant Award: $13,000
Estimated Total Project Cost:  $866,600

Essex County Greenbelt Association (Greenbelt) has the opportunity to conserve nearly 90 acres of forests and wetlands in the immediate vicinity of one of the City of Haverhill’s two primary water sources:  Crystal Lake. Through the purchase of a conservation restriction on 54 acres, the purchase of 19 acres in fee, and accepting a donation of 15 acres, Greenbelt, in partnership with the City of Haverhill, will be permanently protecting surface water areas that impact the quality of Haverhill’s drinking water supply. These three properties also support extraordinary habitat, including eight vernal pools and will connect and expanding adjacent conservation areas, creating opportunities to grow the public trail system.

Northern Woods in Salisbury, MA

Applicant: Essex County Greenbelt Association
Acres to be conserved: 15.7
Protection Method: Land Purchase
MCP Grant Award: $7,000
Estimated Total Project Cost: $73,500

Essex County Greenbelt Association (Greenbelt) is working to preserve 15.7 acres of critical forest and marsh habitat bordering the Great Marsh in Salisbury. The forest and natural upland buffer is important for providing important coastal wildlife habitat and for absorbing storm surges. This property is part of a 200-acre area of contiguous forest with actively used trails on the edge of the Great Marsh. Although there are not currently trails on the property, it will be open to free public passive recreational access and Greenbelt hopes to make a trail connection across adjacent land in the future to allow trail users to access scenic views of the Great Marsh.

Clarkridge Farm in Goffstown, NH

Applicant: Piscataquog Land Conservancy
Acres to be conserved: 70
Protection Method: Purchased Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $20,000
Estimated Total Project Cost: $907,500

Piscataquog Land Conservancy (PLC) has entered into an agreement to purchase a conservation easement on 70 acres that comprise a portion of the historic Clarkridge Farm. The conservation easement would conserve prime agricultural and forest soils and prime wetlands and wildlife habitat, as well as preserve a well-traveled scenic vista and add to an extensive mosaic of conservation land in the area. This is the latest in a long-running regional conservation effort between PLC, the Forest Society, the Town of Goffstown and others to protect the Harry Brook watershed. Clarkridge Farm is one of the last remaining working farms in Goffstown and it is expected the landowner will retain rights to maintain their farm in a sustainable manner. The farm invites the community to special events including Farm Days and Maple Open Houses. Non-motorized public access is allowed and it is expected that will continue under thr proposed PLC easement..

Deepwood Forest in Canterbury and Northfield, NH

Applicant: Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
Acres to be conserved: 394.6
Protection Method: Purchased Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $12,000
Estimated Total Project Costs: $431,943

The Forest Society seeks to permanently protect the 395-acre Deepwood Forest by purchasing a conservation easement at a generous bargain sale. With the conveying of this conservation easement, diverse ecological features combined with responsibly managed recreational opportunities will be protected forever. The landowner purchased the land with the intent to expand and welcome public access and has already constructed a small parking area and improved and added trails for hiking, showshoeing, and nature observation. A snowmobile trail extends through the property. This land is located within a large block of unfragmented land and this project may be the catalyst for other abutting tracts to be permanently protected.

Derevya Farm in Allenstown, NH

Applicant: Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
Acres to be conserved: 116
Protection Method: Donated Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $8,000
Estimated Total Project Costs: $349,070

The Forest Society is working with the Trowbridge and Bonk family to protect their property in Allenstown with a conservation easement. This high-quality forested land is situated across the road from Bear Brook State Park and is adjacent to more than 9,000 conserved acres. The land was purchased in 1997 with the intent to prevent further development and protect the wildlife corridor to the north of the state park. They now want to ensure that this corridor is permanently protected. This project will also protect more than 1,200 fee of Little Bear Brook, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The public currently uses the land for outdoor recreation, such as hunting and hiking on the trail network and the conservation easement will guarantee public pedestrian access for outdoor recreation in the future.

Palmer Bartell Addition in Brookline, NH

Applicant: Town of Brookline Conservation Commission
Acres to be conserved: 305.3
Protection Method: Land Purchase
MCP Grant Award: $9,000
Estimated Total Project Costs: $1,209,178

The Town of Brookline has acquired a group of parcels from three landowners to permanently protect them from development and add 305 acres to an existing multi-town conservation block. This addition creates a conserved area of more than 2,000 mostly contiguous acres. This project adds land to a robust network of trails used by hikers, bikers, and in some cases snowmobiles. The project area contains 1.7 miles of a former rail bed which is now a trail heavily used by the public and which hosts the annual Ghost Train Trail Races which raise funds for the Brookline and Milford conservation commissions.

George Williams Hoyt Farm Conservation Donation in Merrimac, MA

Applicant: Essex County Greenbelt Association
Acres to be conserved: 17.8
Protection Method: Land Donation
MCP Grant Award: $9,000
Estimated Total Project Cost: $85,680

The George Williams Hoyt Family Trust is donating two parcels of land, remnants of the original family farm, to Essex County Greenbelt Association. The elder Mr. Hoyt may continue grazing his cattle on the land. But this practice will be phased out over the next 10 years and then no further agriculture will be allowed on the property so it can revegetate. Both parcels harbor wetlands and a seasonal stream that are part of the East Meadow River watershed supplying water for the city of Haverhill.

Tilander in Holden, MA

Applicant: Massachusetts Audubon Society
Acres to be conserved: 31.2
Protection Method: Land Donation
MCP Grant Award: $9,000
Estimated Total Project Costs: $244,868

In November 2022, Massachusetts Audubon acquired the fee interest in 31.2 acres through a bequest from the Edna Tilander Realty Trust, to be held be held as part of the Eagle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary. This project fills a gap in a block of protected land totaling more than 10,000 acres. This is particularly significant given that this is just outside a dense urban area where the threat of development is especially acute. This protects an area in a narrow corridor of land in which plants and animals may move through the landscape without human impediment. While there are no current plans to build a trail on this addition to the Wildlife Sanctuary, it could support an extension to the sanctuary trail network in the future and prevents development of land nearby, which would have degraded the visitor experience on Mass Audubon’s nearby trails.